Superman Week Commentary: The Multiverse Makes Cyborg Superman Obsolete
by Benjamin Hall
We’re continuing our coverage of Superman week with a brief look at one of Superman’s most interesting, yet potentially obsolete villains.
“Cyborg Superman” is the moniker of Hank Henshaw, and for a small amount of time Zor-El (Adventures Of Superman #500 [1993]) (Supergirl #21 [2013]). However, it is the Hank Henshaw version that is seeing analysis with this article.
Hank Henshaw is formerly a normal human who transforms into a technology controlling being in the aftermath of a Fantastic Four style incident (Adventures Of Superman#466 [1990]) (Fantastic Four #1 [1961]). This event also results in the loss of his human body and two of his three crew mates. Superman does try and save the entire crew, but is only successful in saving Hank’s wife Terri Henshaw. She later commits suicide after Hank’s return in a robotic form since she mentally can’t deal with the situation (Adventures Of Superman #468 [1990]). These losses plus Hank having a questionable mental state after the events results in him blaming Superman. He steals Superman’s rocket along with some genetic material and forms plans of revenge that he enacts as Cyborg Superman (Superman #81 [1993]). His returns from death and ability to control technology occur on the basis that he is an energy being that has a moveable consciousness.
Despite most people knowing that basic amount of information on Henshaw there are some factors that not many consider. The first one is that Hank Henshaw may not be totally Hank Henshaw. This is because one of his former crew mates, Steven, becomes an energy being in the same accident and apparently dies before Henshaw does. Since energy can only change or see redirection Steven could technically be alive just like Henshaw is (The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol I (1970) by theoretical physicist Richard Feynman). Meaning that Henshaw’s mental instability could be in part because of this merging of energy beings. Not to mention this would explain why he goes from his destroy cities and Superman phases to moments where he just wishes to fully die (Tales Of The Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman #1 [2007]).
Another factor is that whatever his current desire happens to be he cannot solve it easily with the universe being singular, which is true at the time of his origin. This is no longer the case after Dark Crisis since the multiverse is now back (Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #1-7 [2022]). Meaning that he could fulfill whichever desire he currently has by just finding the right universe. Yet, the return of the multiverse makes him a rather pointless character because he can resolve whatever he is having a problem with. He could even see a return to his original body. Not to mention Hank could have a happy life with alternate versions of his friends who went through the super-cyborg experience as well. Thus, the multiverse creates too many solutions for this character.
A possible answer to what to do with this character is to let the character end on a happy note and retire the use of Hank Henshaw. Another is to lower his intelligence or explain away why he does not try to find a solution in an alternate universe. Yes, he makes a worthy foe for Superman and other characters (Parallax: Emerald Night #1 [1996]). It is also true that he will remain popular as long as Superman’s most popular death and return to life is in favor (The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus [2022]. Yet, what is the point of a fictional character if they can too easily resolve personal issues?
